I have both an Advantium and a Gaggenau combi-steam. I've written lots about both in this forum, which you can find if you do a search on my screen name.

There's no way I can answer your question directly. It's too vague. Maybe if you read up on what they do, or tell us more about your style of cooking...

Both are alike in one way: They're both convection ovens, if so set.

They're very different in an important way: The Advantium is a speed oven. My needs changed, so I use mine more as a convection oven and a microwave than a speed oven, but it's the speed features you're paying for, and if you don't think you'll use them it's a waste. If you just don't have the time, the speed feature is fantastic.

Re steam, while having the steam available while baking/roasting is very nice, you can get the same effect without popping for a steam oven. You can do the same kind of straight steaming on the stove with a steam pot or bamboo steam box and wok, and much of it you can do in a regular microwave. They also make countertop appliances that steam for as little as $30. The reason for getting a steam oven is that you want to! And it is labor saving, especially if it's fully plumbed.

The main reason I have both is that there are times when I need three ovens and a warming drawer at the same time. :)

I was originally considering a speed oven but have been convinced a steam oven would be better for my uses, I think. About 95% of my microwave use is reheating food or steaming vegetables, both of which a steam oven does better. I also regularly bake bread, and steam ovens are great for that. I don't plan to buy a microwave, but we do have space for a small one if necessary.

If you're someone who appreciates new tools/gadgets for cooking and doesn't mind some learning curve, it might be a good choice for you.

thanks for the responses and sorry for the vagueness - I know there is likely quite a bit about each product, but I was/am feeling so conflicted that I was hoping to try and "compare" the two.

entering yesterday's appointment, I was drawn to the Advantium because of the supposed speed, as well as the additional services it offers as a microwave and also a conventional oven.

in the cooler months, I tend to roast meats at least once a week, and would love if the time it took could be cut down.

however, can anyone tell me if low & slow as done in a traditional oven can be replicated in a speed oven, or would that not really be feasible?

for the purposes of the microwave, it is used daily to reheat food - my kids tend to eat leftovers from the night(s) before for lunch. it seems as thought either the advantium or the combi steam can reheat. however, if using the combi steam to reheat, can anyone speak to the necessary time? I'm not necessarily inclined to have to wait on heating an oven in order to heat up a bowl of soup that takes 30 seconds in a microwave.

beyond this, i'm really looking for what might be most useful when hosting dinner parties - having additional oven capacity. will have to check to see if capacity is the same or different between the two.

thanks for any additional thoughts.

The steam oven reheating time is greater than the speed oven. The salesperson told me to expect 10-15 minutes for a plate of food, as opposed to the 5 minutes a microwave on reheat mode would require. The results are much better, though, so it's a trade-off. For soup, I would undoubtedly just use the stove top.

I have the wolf oven and advantium speed oven
I am into year 3 and so far, no porcelain problems-but keeping my fingers crossed.
I love my advantium but it can take strategic planning.
An example
Melt butter in microwave first
Then cook casserole
Pop in reheat popovers as casserole is finishing.

You can slow cook in the advantium. I have done pot roasts and chili in it. I have a slow cooker and had 3 batches of chili percolating - one on my induction, a second in a crock pot and a third in my advantium for a party.

As with all slow cooking - get to base temp and hold it there. I used keep warm hot after it reached a base temp.

Also giant baked potatoes in 9 minutes flat for 2 potatoes with crispy skins!

I am traveling so might not be back for a bit.

I've never tried soup in the combi-steam but I'm sure it could work. Both steam and microwaves work best on things that aren't big chunks. The regenerate mode on the Gaggenau does take about 10 minutes for a full plate of meat, veg and starch, plus a short heat up time. It'll be warm through without being overcooked. It can't be replicated in a straight microwave. That same plate would have veg that have gone brown, dried out meat and cold meat both, and starch that's too hot in places. I don't reheat like that with the speed element, so I don't know. The best way to reheat an entire lasagna or other large, dense item is still to put it in a regular oven (either combi-steam or Advantium on convection oven mode will work). Or maybe use the speed settings for mostly convection, a bit of microwave to encourage the middle, and no halogen, at least until the last 10 minutes for browning. Okay, I see it could be done. Might even be useful. I haven't done it, though.

Gary says his results with his Electrolux speed oven are as good as with his regular oven. I don't use the speed function as often as I might because I just don't have the deadlines I used to and can wait an extra 15-20 minutes and use the steam oven. In my own opinion, no, low and slow cannot be done fast. Period. You can make acceptable food, but it's not the same. That's another reason I don't use it as much as I thought I would. The results are fine, but the results of my real cooking are so much better...

You can roast on convection equally in either.

In your case, however, it sounds like you need a microwave but not necessarily the Advantium.

When we were getting our microwave, we considered getting a speed oven instead. There were a couple of reasons that I decided it wouldn't be a good choice for us.

Most of our baking and roasting pans are metal. We do have a few ceramic or glass things, but we like the ease of the metal pans. We would have to switch to glass or ceramic to use the microwave to speed cooing.

I read comments from some others who found that it was inconvenient when the oven had been just used at high temp and they wanted to microwave something but didn't want to expose it to that high temp (e.g. heat shocking a glass container or having something on a plastic dish that couldn't stand the heat.

Our microwave has a mode called "meal reheat" that does a fine job reheating a plate of mixed foods. It uses the sensor and I think it uses a low power mode cycling it on and off so that everything gets heated about the same. But that mode is pretty slow - I don't think it is faster than the times mentioned above for reheating in a steam oven.